Peter Pitt has been living in Northern Spain - possibly since Feb 08 (when his Portsmouth mileage claim started). Not quite sure how well he is able to represent Bedfont residents unles they all have top-level IT!Anyway, about me . . . From 2002 - 2006 I was Hounslow's Lead Executive member for Heathrow Issues - opposing expansion. I shifted our policy away from legal challenge - over £1m fighting the Terminal 5 Inquiry gained the borough no mitigation whatsoever. We decided in 2002 to start taking the needs of Hounslow's residents to the heart of government. From then I used every opportunity to use our Labour Party contacts to get the messages of the impact of Heathrow into Government, and to key opinion formers - my attendance at Labour Party conference was, and remains, central to that aim.There is no doubt that this influencing work we carried out over 4 years under our administration, and continuing now, was massively beneficial to Hounslow’s residents; three specific examples of successful outcomes are * The Aviation White paper resulted in £25m of BAA funds being set aside to insulate schools and community buildings around Heathrow, the vast majority of this is being spent in our borough. * We lobbied extensively at every stage in the passage of the Civil Aviation Bill, which at the end resulted in a block on the expansion of night flights * We got Runway alternation retained indefinitely.OK so we didn't stop Runway 3, but we have certainly been part of raising the bar, to make it more difficult to go ahead. We have also ensured that when national politicians, civil servants and journalists think of communities around Heathrow, their first thought is no longer Hillingon, but Hounslow.Labour Party Conferenc:Hounslow’s professional public affairs consultants had advised that our most effective (and cost-efficient) way to talk directly and informally to a large number of Government decision-makers, and other key opinion formers in one hit, was for me as a Labour Councillor to go to the Labour Party Conference - not as a party delegate but as a representative for my borough. This was an especially important time as the Civil Aviation Bill was about to start its passage through Parliament, and the RANCH report on the impact of aircraft noise on children’s learning had just been published in the Lancet. At the conference I had valuable conversations with (and gave written briefings to) the following people: * Karen Buck MP - Aviation Minister * Jacqui Smith MP - Schools Minister * Stephen Hale - Special Advisor to Secretary of State for the Environment * Lord Adonis - Education Minister * Des Turner MP - Environment Audit Committee * Fiona Mactaggert MP for Slough * Lord Brook - Lords backbench committee on Transport and PLP transport group * Mike Shaw - times Educational Supplement - interested in Schools insulation * Christian Woolmar - leading independent writer on transport * An FT journalist writing about the Gate Gourmet dispute and employment in and around Heathrow * Nikki Gavron - Deputy Mayor of London * Murad Qureshi - GLA member with responsibility for * Val Shawcross - GLA member * Carol Barboni - Stop Stansted Expansion I participated in a round-table discussion with leading players in the aviation debate including Elliot Morley MP - Environment Minister, Lord Soley - Future Heathrow, BAA, leading Environment and Transport writers and experts. I also met many MPs and Councillors from London whose areas were getting increasingly affected by growing aircraft noise (many have subsequently joined 2M), and from Scotland and the north of England - who are now taking up the campaign for High Speed Rail as an alternative to short-haul flying. It would have taken enormous time and effort to gain anything like the same spread of access if indeed it was possible at all, by not attending this conference, and I am confident that my efforts were of considerable value to Hounslow’s campaign. I spent 4 days in Brighton at this conference, in the cheapest room I could find for those days within 5 miles of the conference centre. It was at a Guest House and the price reflects the mark up that is always applied during major conferences when accommodation is at a premium. As I was working with another organisation that I was representing at two fringe meetings, I was able to save money for the Council by sharing costs. The cost of the Guest House was split equally; I claimed my petrol from Hounslow, and my delegate pass fee from the other organisation as a straightforward way to apportion other joint costs. In order to ensure that you are comparing like with like, it is worth noting that there was no simple mechanism then for these hotel and train bookings to be made for me by the Council, hence they appear on my expenses claims. I would be interested if this is still the practice or whether Council staff members now do such bookings - such as the MIPIM conference in Cannes (no travel or accommodation costs appear on Cllr Thompson or Reid's exepnses claims, but they will have been paid by the Council).At the Local Government Conference in Harrogate last week - 7 senior Councillors stayed in a £160 pn hotel. I was the one opposition member allowed to attend this important national event but only on the basis that I booked my own accommodation. So a train fare and my (cheaper) hotel bill will appear on my next expense claim. A full examination of the cost of Councillors should include this direction of probing. But it would also be helpful if thee costs are justified - in the way that I have just explained what I achieved at my attendance at Labour Party Conference in 2005.. . . well you did ask Jim!
Ruth Cadbury ● 6328d